Name:
:
Break the Ice Problems
Large Sample Confidence Intervals
Tom Linton, Due April 7, 2000
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In response to the question What is your favorite sport to watch on
TV?, 878 randomly selected Americans responded:
| Sport |
Bowling |
Football |
Basketball |
Wrestling |
Baseball |
Golf |
| Frequency |
231 |
205 |
147 |
139 |
87 |
69 |
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Give a 95% confidence interval for the proportion of Americans whose favorite
TV sport is wrestling.
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Give a 99% confidence interval for the proportion of Americans who prefer
watching Baseball to Golf on TV.
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Notice that sports whose names begin with a B make up 3 of the 6
sports listed. Give a 90% confidence interval for the proportion of Americans
whose favorite TV sport has a name that begins with a B.
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To test the speed of outboard motors (on boats), similar boats were outfitted
with 80 horse power motors from Mercury, Evinrude and Johnson. Each boat
was timed in a 1/4 mile race on flat water (calm water conditions, starting
from rest). The results of 54 Mercury, 67 Evinrude and 73 Johnson "1/4
mile speed tests" are summarized below, where
is the average time and S is the standard deviation of the sample race
times (both in seconds) for each type of motor.
| Mercury |
Evinrude |
Johnson |
 |
SM |
 |
SE |
 |
SJ |
| 8.7 |
2.3 |
9.2 |
1.7 |
9.5 |
3.1 |
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For each type of motor, give a 90% confidence interval for the mean time
(in seconds) that it takes to run a 1/4 mile race.
-
Give a 90% confidence interval for difference between the mean times of
Evinrude and Johnson motors (for this type of boat in a 1/4 mile race).
-
At the 90% confidence level, can you assume that Evinrude motors are faster
than Johnson motors (for this type of boat in a 1/4 mile race)? Explain.
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At the 98% confidence level, can you assume that Mercury motors are faster
than Johnson motors (for this type of boat in a 1/4 mile race)? Explain.